This was his greatest defensive power. As long as the thunderbolt did not wreck it, his life would not be threatened.
He did not bother about how Ou Yangming would deal with the Heavenly Thunderbolt. In fact, he wished that the thunderbolt would simply kill the young fellow.
At last, the Heavenly Thunderbolt arrived and hit Long Dexing’s head hard. The thunderbolt splashes and the blood light intertwined and gave off incredibly frightening energy.
Long Dexing sighed a breath of relief. He could sense that the thunderbolt power had reduced, and he managed to withstand the attack by a close call. The man would have to stay away from Ou Yangming—the source of the disaster—even if it would damage his vitality.
In spite of that, a dazzling light appeared amidst the thunderbolt.
‘The light seems familiar…’
For some reason, Long Dexing was struck with such a thought. Before long, he saw the light hit his blood-light plate ruthlessly.
Long Dexing let out a shrill and despairing roar because he finally understood why the light seemed familiar to him; it was Ou Yangming’s saber-light.
However, Long Dexing could not understand how Ou Yangming had the extra energy to attack while being hit by the Heavenly Thunderbolt.
Even he could only focus on guarding against the thunderbolt. Not to mention attacking someone else, he could not be distracted at all.
No matter how confused he was, the saber-light still slashed the blood plate without being obstructed.
The blood plate’s power originated from Sir Devil God and could somewhat resist the Heavenly Phoenix Fire, but Long Dexing was faced with the Sky-devouring Devil God’s unique Devouring attribute.
Under the attribute, the blood plate’s power had no resisting ability at all, and its power kept being absorbed by the Devouring attribute.
The blood plate’s energy was formed by the agglomeration of Long Dexing’s essence and blood, thus it would break his heart even if a bit was taken away. Ou Yangming could only absorb a bit of the power when he gashed Long Dexing’s body with his saber but this time, he took away a substantial amount of essence and blood.
Long Dexing almost passed out on the spot due to the immense pain.
Nonetheless, an even more fearsome Heavenly Thunderbolt descended.
When the blood plate that gathered Long Dexing’s essence and blood was broken, the Heavenly Thunderbolt finally struck him without being hindered.
Next, Long Dexing’s body went numb as if electricity lingered inside his body. He could not move an inch, and he could not think as well.
After losing guard, even a powerhouse like him would become powerless against the Heavenly Thunderbolts. Although he could not resist anymore, he could fix his gaze on Ou Yangming.
Long Dexing wanted to know if the presumptuous human would die sooner than he would because of the thunderbolt.
That said, he widened his eyes in disbelief when he saw the situation around Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming was surrounded by a layer of an odd yet indescribable light ring with fluctuations. The thunderbolt was diminished in layers and was constantly dissipated to the ground.
Long Dexing could not identify how much thunderbolt power was drained by the light right, but it was evident from Ou Yangming’s indifference that he did not suffer much thunderbolt power.
‘What’s… That?’
At this point, Long Dexing finally understood that Ou Yangming did not intend to perish together with him; the young fellow had a plan.
Ou Yangming definitely possessed an ultimate treasure that allowed him to defend against the Heavenly Thunderbolts, which was why he made the seemingly suicidal choice. When Long Dexing thought about how he ended up as a funeral object—no, he was not even a funeral object because Ou Yangming would not die—he was not resigned to the outcome.
The round of thunderbolt disappeared after a split second, but Long Dexing’s body did not recover right away.
Given that he suffered an internal hit from the thunderbolt, he could not recover so quickly. The only thing he could do was to stare at Ou Yangming with hate.
Ou Yangming grinned. He turned his wrist and stabbed his saber into Long Dexing’s chest.
Long Dexing still could not move because his body was numb, but his remaining essence and blood left him like a flood.
Looking at the flickering bloody light on the Military Fire, Long Dexing’s body quickly deflated. Nobody knew what went through his mind when he had his last breath, but he looked regretful.
It remained unknown whether he regretted coming to the lower realm or having given Ou Yangming the opportunity to summon the Heavenly Thunderbolts.
Ou Yangming exhaled deeply and withdrew his saber before he took three steps back. The surging essential Qi in his body was simply unimaginable.
Essence and blood—they were essence and blood from a powerhouse that went beyond Extreme Grade. They were so rich that it was unbelievable. Ou Yangming felt like he received benefits greater than when Big Yellow devoured the spirit insect.
Even so, the mighty essence and blood seemed to have exceeded his body’s withstandable limit.
Ou Yangming smiled helplessly at this moment. He knew it would be unfavorable if the Devouring power exceeded his consumable limit and could backlash.
Despite that, Long Dexing’s essence and blood were too attractive. He was drawn the first time he came into contact with them, which attracted him more than the refinement of the crystal ball did.
In a way, Ou Yangming had only acted according to his body’s instinct; he only awakened after he withdrew the very last bit of Long Dexing’s essence and blood.
“Boom…”
Following that, the third Heavenly Thunderbolt struck mercilessly. Ou Yangming scoffed and activated the Thunderbolt-resistant attribute in his suit. By the time the thunderbolt power landed on him after it was reduced layer by layer, it became rather insignificant. This was also the biggest reason the young fellow dared to summon the thunderbolts.
Since Big Yellow could resist the Heavenly Thunderbolts, why could he not?
Sure enough, the third Heavenly Thunderbolt was not too much of a burden for him. Based on his strength at the moment, he could easily withstand it. Nonetheless, Ou Yangming was surprised because he realized that the boiling essence and blood in his body seemed to have become obedient.
Especially when the Heavenly Thunderbolt entered his body, the essence and blood, which initially wanted revolt, became gentle and initiated contact with his essential Qi to resist the thunderbolt.
Nevertheless, the power of the essence and blood was overly powerful, whereas the moderated Heavenly Thunderbolt was too weak. Once the thunderbolt’s threat was gone, the endless essence and blood began to backlash again.
Ou Yangming was too greedy this time, so the power that he absorbed was far from the acceptable limit for his essential Qi. If he had not possessed great mental power, he would have exploded and died long ago.
Having said that, nobody knew how long it would take for the energies of the essence and blood to be completely converted. If there was a mishap during the process, there would also be an unpredictable consequence.
The young fellow gritted his teeth and looked at the sky, then he suddenly dropped the little round shield in his hand.
He looked up at the sky on the empty ground, then he raised his hands into the air and shouted, “You damn Heaven, come at me!”
As he wished, a thunderous sound was heard, then a lightning bolt struck him.
Chapter 474 - Temper Himself
“Boom…”
Another Heavenly Thunderbolt struck Ou Yangming.
By then, he had dropped his small round shield, which was one of the pieces of equipment from his Thunderbolt-resistant Suit. It seemed like he was only giving up one item, but it would cause the suit’s effect to plunge.
After all, the biggest feature about his Thunderbolt-resistant Suit was it was a complete set.
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br /> If the set was incomplete, the proportion of the thunderbolt power weakened would be reduced by a huge margin. In fact, the overall effect would be reduced by more than a tenth if one of the pieces of equipment was removed.
Other people would be courting death if they did that. Resisting the Heavenly Thunderbolt was certainly the most dangerous thing to do in the world because one would turn into ashes if one was careless.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming’s essential Qi was surging inside his body. He had absorbed most of Long Dexing’s essence and blood, which he converted into endless essential Qi for himself as though he wanted to make his body burst.
Every drop of essence and blood in a supreme powerhouse contained unparalleled energy. Fortunately, Ou Yangming had advanced to Extreme Grade, or he could not have accommodated so many of them if he was still in Yang Grade.
Even so, it would not be easy for him to convert the essence and blood into his power. If he was slightly careless, his body would explode, causing him to die.
Perhaps this was the biggest disadvantage of the Devouring ability.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming made an unexpected move by letting go of his full defense against the Heavenly Thunderbolt, allowing its limitless energy to hit him.
Ou Yangming could not help but quiver when the thunderbolt zapped him. The tremble was not only on his body surface, but the inside of his body too. In a way, once the young fellow removed one of his suit’s defenses, the power of the Heavenly Thunderbolt’s repercussion could be sent to every corner in his body.
As soon as the thunderbolt power raged inside his body, the essence and blood calmed down.
Although the essence and blood had no wisdom, they acted instinctively. They would mercilessly release their power if there were no foreign enemy, and they would not care how the body’s master would be affected if the power was overly released.
On the other hand, if an external force was present and could destroy the essence and blood’s supreme energy, they would release their energy more gently and would not reject the commands from Ou Yangming’s consciousness.
Ou Yangming could even sense that the essence and blood feared the thunderbolt power.
They were instinctively afraid, and it would not change even if Long Dexing was already dead.
The thunderbolt’s repercussion kept rippling inside Ou Yangming’s body. As the electric light flickered, his body turned into stubborn iron in the Military Fire and was constantly being tempered to become more tenacious and powerful.
Even though the Heavenly Thunderbolt was fearsome, Ou Yangming had not surpassed Extreme Grade, after all. Despite that, his body was being supported by the essence and blood of a supreme powerhouse.
Not to mention he was still wearing a Thunderbolt-resistant Suit, even if he had nothing on, he could resist the Heavenly Thunderbolt head-on.
Ou Yangming exhaled deeply and had an idea in his mind already. He shook his wrist to loosen his cloak, causing him to lose another piece of Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment. Having said that, his eyes were filled with confidence like never before when he looked up at another strike of Heavenly Thunderbolt.
‘Come on, fiercer…’
The young fellow would be regarded as one of the madmen if people knew what he was thinking at the moment.
Far away, the goshawk and Big Yellow looked at each other outside the thunderbolt zone. They felt penetrating chills from their bodies, and they could not help but shudder especially when they witnessed the scene of the rumbling thunders.
In actuality, they did not know what exactly happened in the zone.
The Inescapable Trap, which had been hit by the Heavenly Thunderbolts before, broke out all of a sudden and enveloped Ou Yangming.
Naturally, the two spirit beasts were frightened. They wanted to save Ou Yangming, but they would trigger the thunderbolts and cause lightning to appear whenever they were close to the small area.
They instantly understood that they would be attacked by the lethal thunderbolts if they insisted on entering the zone.
The goshawk did not have the guts to enter at all because it did not have a protective suit. It knew it would only be doomed if it set foot in the area.
Big Yellow did not have it much better. It had just advanced not long ago, and the Heavenly Thunderbolts’ mightiness was still fresh in its mind. Unless the big yellow dog was compelled, it would not dare to court its death.
The only thing that made them glad was they could still communicate with Ou Yangming through their conceptions. Though the efficiency was extremely low due to the hindrance from the Inescapable Trap, at the very least, they made sure that the young fellow’s life was not in danger for the time being.
Since his life was not being threatened, the spirit beasts did not need to sacrifice themselves to save him.
Who knew, it took only a brief moment for the situation to change drastically.
When Ou Yangming’s mental power kept improving and attracted the Heavenly Thunderbolts, the goshawk and the big yellow dog finally knew the situation had become very unfavorable. After the Inescapable Trap was destroyed by the thunderbolts, they saw Ou Yangming kill Long Dexing in one move and took the initiative to face the following thunderbolts.
In particular, the goshawk and Big Yellow almost felt like they had gone mad when they saw Ou Yangming abandon his thunderbolt-resistant shield and cloak.
‘What’s this fella trying to do? Is he trying to resist the Heavenly Thunderbolts with his physical power? Does he not know how to spell death?’
Big Yellow was fine, whereas the goshawk turned pale. The latter’s life was linked to Ou Yangming’s, thus he would also die if the young fellow died.
However, Ou Yangming, who was directly involved in the situation, knew nothing about what was going on outside. He raised his arms again and anticipated the next Heavenly Thunderbolt.
Sure enough, the Heavenly Thunderbolt did not disappoint him as the next one was incredibly forceful. The electric light lingered around him to completely wrap him up.
The energy of the essence and blood was released bit by bit and integrated with Ou Yangming’s meridians as it fully became a part of his essential Qi. Owing to the fact that he had extraordinary mental power, he could easily control the essential Qi’s circulation in his body and could send them into his dantian.
Electric light was also flickering inside his dantian at the moment. It was the thunderbolt power, which had seeped into every corner in his body.
Ou Yangming was bold and was relying on the fact that he possessed mental power mighty enough for him to control everything. This was why he dared to let go of his body and did something close to the limit.
His skin, flesh, blood, bones, and even his most hidden sea of consciousness seemed to be surrounded by the electric light. That said, after the thunderbolt power was weakened by the remaining pieces of Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment, and once the essence and blood in his body melted, his body eventually became purer and tougher like fine iron that was continuously tempered.
This was a unique cultivation method, but nobody dared to do it since ancient times.
Using thunderbolts as the Military Fire and tempering one’s body as if it was stubborn iron was simply frightening.
If Ou Yangming had not absorbed substantial essence and blood and was impacted by their energy, he would not have done this as it seemed like he was courting his death.
When the thunderbolts continued to display their potency and the essence and blood’s energy kept melting, Ou Yangming’s body slowly became stronger.
Ou Yangming absorbed so much essence and blood that Long Dexing’s body was almost emptied. The energy from the essence and blood could not have been accepted by any Supreme Great Ancestor, to the extent that it would also be difficult for Wu Yuanwei—the Humans’ greatest powerhouse—to withstand it.
Therefore, through the strikes from the thunderbolts, the essence and blood’s energy had not only turned into essential Qi
that flowed in Ou Yangming’s dantian, but a part of it had also directly fused with his body, allowing his body to resist the thunderbolts. The portion of energy completely assimilated into the young fellow’s bones, flesh, and skin after it endured the Heavenly Thunderbolts, causing a quality enhancement in his body constitution.
No matter how a human cultivator cultivated, perhaps one could surpass the Beasts in terms of energy mobilization, but one’s body constitution would always be inferior to the Beasts.
The Beasts were born with the advantage, and it could not be anyhow changed by anyone. Even if one were to put in more effort in this aspect, one would only get half the results with twice the effort and could not easily become superior.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming completed an unimaginable change when he was zapped by the thunderbolts. He fused extra energy into his body and utilized the thunderbolts to temper his body, which became far beyond one’s imagination.
“Boom…”
As soon as the last thunderbolt descended, Ou Yangming’s body gave off rattling sounds akin to firecrackers. He twisted his neck and slowly straightened his body.
His clothes were ripped, and his Thunderbolt-resistant Suit seemed to have cracked as well.
If the cracks were slightly deeper, the suit would crumble to dust.
Ou Yangming brought this upon himself. If he was fully-equipped and did not reduce the number of equipment he had, he would not have ended up like this.
When the young fellow looked up, he finally confirmed that the Heavenly Thunderbolts were gone.
However, there were last bits of the essence and blood in his body that had not been refined.
Ou Yangming took a deep breath and sat with his legs crossed as if he was closing his eyes to recuperate. After some time, he finished converting the remaining energy from the essence and blood.
Everything was solved satisfactorily so far, but Ou Yangming still felt some lingering fear.
Immortal Path to Heaven c1-725 Page 279
